Method and apparatus for carding fibrous material



April 21. 1925. 1,534,564-

E. V. BATES METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CARDING FIBROUS MATERIAL Filed'Jun' 2. 1924 .l rwer jdkmcks,

dlesex and Commonwealthof Massachusetts,

Patented Apr. 21, 1925.

UNITED STATES EDDO 'V. BATES, OF LQVVELL, MASSAGI-lIUSETIS.

METHOD AND APPARATUS GABDING 'FIBROUS MATERIALS Application filed June2,

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Enno V. Barns, a citizen of the United States ofJimerica, and a resident of Lowell, in the county of Midhave inventedcertain new and useful 1mprovements in Methods and Apparatus forCaroling Fibrous Material, of which the following is a specification;

This invention relates to tllemethod and apparatus'for carding fibrousmaterial such as wool, cotton and the like.

An object of the invention is to produce a carding machine of a muchsimpler arrangement than those heretofore used, and one having a main orplurality of main cylinders or swifts of greatly reduced size, andhaving an appreciable reduction in the num' her of worker rolls andconsequently strippers therefor.

A further object of the invention is to produce a carding "machine atgreatly reduced cost,and which has a lesser number of vital parts tokeep in condition, and in adjustment, in consequence of which a savingof time and labor is made in the up keep thereof;

It is a further object of the invention to produce a carding; machinewhich, by reason of the use of swifts of less diameter than heretofore,occupies less floor space, thusj permittinga greater number of machinesto be installed in a given space than has been possible in the past.

Another object of the invention is the production of carding machinehaving all the aboveoualities, and which efiiciently cards the materialin such a manner that the possibility of breaking the fibersthereof isgreatly eliminated, resulting in the formation of aifilnnifieece, orsliver, comprising .7 fibres of generally. their original length,thereby producing a muclrbetter sliver at much less original cost permachine, and expenditure of time and labor in the up keep thereof.

A stillfurther object of the invention is to produce a carding machinewherein an intermediate ClOffGl'O1 tummer is arranged in a novel mannerwith respect to the other parts, and employed in conjunction with otherwell known parts, to not only function 7' as an intermediate doffe'r'hutto'actually aid in recording certain of the material WillCll has beenpreviously acted upon by it, but

1924:. Serial No. 717,241.

which is not properly prepared to proceed further in the machine forfinal carding prior to final doiiing.

Heretofore the mtermediate' doffer "or tummer has function aches amedium for transferring the sliver from one main 'cyli inder toanoth'er,*butat the dofling point has aided greatlyin the fibrestraightening process started by thelicker-in'and workers,

and at the point of transfer it was stripped l of its sliver, which wasnot furthercarded by that operati'on, but transferredito the sequentcarding and finally doffed: i

The present invention contemplates a novel arrangement of theintermediatedolf er or tuminer and strippers co'acting' therewith,

with respect to the main cylinders or Swifts, whereby the tummerIBCEElVQS shverfrom the first swift, and is stri ped of'said sliverprior to the transfer to' the second swift, and

whereby certain portion'sof the transferred material, ifnot properlycarded at that time,

or is bunchy, is picked u'pby the said tummer, carriedrearwardlyandstripped there-- from, and again presented to the first swift forfurther carding", which occurs at the point of transfer, baclragain tothe tummer.

It is not known that acarding machine has ever been used wherein atummerhas been so arranged as to receive sliver fronr one swift to hedelivered to another, and

thereafter again receive certain portions of the previously deliveredshverfrom the second swift to deliver it backto the said first swift forre'carding While the presentinventi'on is shown-in connection with awooLear-d set-'11 it will" be understood that it might be use "equally 4well in Garnetts, or cottoncards, or in re volvin'g fiat cards, whichlatterc'ese the hats may be greatly reduced innumber.

In View of the foregolng' it will be understood that it is not theintention to limitthe': Ti invention to the precise arrangement shown,as changes might be made therenrwlthout Y departing fromits spirit andscope: i

This invention consists in certain novel features of arrangement whichwill be fully understood from'a description of the drawing and theclaims hereinafter given'fi Or" the drawings:

Fi ure'l're resentsra: dia rammatie-view til of a wool card set upcontaining the invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of the intermediate doifer ortummer with strippers therefor, and portions of the cylinders or swifts,to more clearly illustrate the novel arrangement of the tummer and theaction thereof.

Like characters represent like parts throughout the figures of thedrawing.

Referring to the drawing:

The drawings herewith illustrate the invention as applied to a twocylinder wool card, and preferably so, but it will be understood thatmore than two cylinders might be used if desired, and the inventionmight be applied to other forms of carding machines which it is notdeemed necessary to illustrate.

In the present instance the machine is supplied with the usual lap feedrolls 1'), licker in 11, and tumbler 12, which latter feeds the materialto the first cylinder or swift 13 where it? is acted upon by the workers14 and 15.

In carrying out the invention it has been found that the number ofworkers necessary for the best results need not be as large as usedheretofore, and in view of that fact a very material reduction in thediameter of the swift was made possible.

Upon leaving the worker 15, the partly carded material is acted upon bythe fancy l6 preparatory to being taken up by the intermediate cloiferor tummer 17.

So far, with the exception of the size of the swifts, and the number ofworkers used, the arrangement is well known in the art, the position ofthe tummer however has been arranged so that it is in direct workingrelationship with the second swift whereby it may relieve the said swiftof uncarded or bunchy material previously stripped from itself.

At the point of transfer of the material from the first swift to thedoifer or tummer, very effectual carding takes place, after which thematerial, now somewhat condensed is removed from the tummer by thestripper 18 and delivered thereby to the second swift or cylinder 19.

If at this time the material is sufficiently well carded to escape thenow stripped portion of the tummer 17 it will be carried forward forsubsequent operations by the workers20 and 21 and the fancy 22, which asusual prepares the material for removal by the doifer 23 to be in turnstripped by the comb 24.

If however the material is buncliy and insufficiently carded so as tocontact with the said previously stripped portion of the tummer, it willbe taken up by it and carried rearwarolly to the stripper 25, which willagain transfer it to the first swift 13, and it will again undergo acarding operation on its next transfer from the said swift back to thetummer.

By the use of the above arrangement it will be readily seen that thetummer in this instance functions to dotf all the material from thefirst swift, but only superfluous, bunchy, or uncarded material from thesec 011d swift, and by so doing, a uniform layer of material is assuredfor the said second swift, which naturally results in a much. more evenand uniform layer or film of finished product.

It will be understood that the arrangement of the doifer or tummer 17relatively to the swift 19 is one that offers excellent advantages inthe carding operation, as the material deposited on the said swift 19 isnot deeply imbedded in the clothing thereof and consequently upon itspassage past the adjacent clothing of the tummer, the fiberstraightening process is easily carried out, and with a minimum ofbreakage to the fibers.

It will also be understood that the carding process at this point iscontinuous so long as material is being deposited on the said swift,even though the tummer removes certain of the material from it, thatmaterial too receives the advantages of the carding at that point andtime.

This added advantage in the carding process obtained as it is by thenovel arrangement 0f the tummer with respect to the second swift hasdeveloped better sliver to such an extent that it has made it possible.and in fact advisable to diminish the number of workers used, andthereby enables the use,

of swifts of much smaller diameter, which means a great reduction infirst cost of machine and conservation of floor space.

Having described the invention I claim:

1. A machine for carding fibrous material, comprising a plurality ofswifts, means interposed between pairs of said swifts to transfer sliverfrom one swift to another in its progress through the machine, saidmeans including a tummer so arranged as to coact with each swift of apair to first receive all the material from one swift and advance ittoward the second swift, and to thereafter receive certain portions ofsaid material from said second swift and return it to be re ccived bysaid first swift for further carding.

2. A machine for carding fibrous material comprising a plurality ofswifts; a tummer interposed between two swifts of a pair and arranged indirect operative relation there with whereby it may receive materialfrom each of said swifts; a stripper arranged to clear said tummer andtransfer the material thereof to one of said swifts; and a stripperarranged to clear said tummer of material received by it from said lastmentioned swift with to card fibrous material, and arranged to receivecarded material from said, first swift in its progress through themachine; and means whereby certain portions of carded material receivedfrom said first swift may be returned thereto from said second swift forfurther carding.

4. A machine for carding fibrous material tomprismg a swift having meanscoacting therewith to card fibrous material; a second swift also havingmeans coacting therewith to card fibrous material and arranged toreceive carded material from said first swift in its progress throughthe machine; and means coacting with both of said swifts to transfercarded material from said first swift to said second swift, one portionof said means being arranged to remove superfluous material from saidsecond swift prior to further carding operations thereon, and transferit back to be again received by said first swift whereby a uniform layerof carded material may be maintained on said second swift for subsequentcarding operations.

5. A machine for carding fibrous material comprising two swifts of smalldiameter; carding devices coacting with each of said swifts and adaptedto aid in carding fibrous material; and means coacting with each of saidswifts whereby material is transferred from one swift to another andwhereby superfluous material so transferred may be removed from itsswift and returned to the other swift to thereby maintain a uniformlayer of transferred material.

6. The method of carding fibrous material consisting of first feedingthe material to be carded to a swift and coacting carding devices,dofiing the material from said swift and transferring it to a secondswift for further carding but prior to said further carding arrangingthe carded material on said second swift in a uniform layer by dofiingsuperfluous material therefrom and returning said superfluous materialto the first swift for further carding and to be again advanced.

Signed by me at Lowell, Mass, this 27th day of May 1924. I

EDDO V. BATES.

